Circuit-controlling mechanism



May 24, 1938. c. F. WALLACE CIRCUIT CONTROLLING MECHANISM Original Filed July 30, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Tizrl.

INVENTOR.

I; ATTORNEY.

May 24, 1938. c. F. WALLACE CIRCUIT CONTROLLING MECHANISM Original Filed July 30, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Illllllh INVENTOR. 6'4 Ma.

A. ATTORNEY.

Patented 1a., 24, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIRCUIT-CONTROLLING MECHANISM Charles F. Wallace, Westfield, N. J., assignor to Wallace & Tiernan Products, Inc., Belleville, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey 4 Claims.

This invention relates to circuit-controlling mechanism. The invention has been made especially with the idea of providing, and aims especially to provide, an improved signal device, and more particularly a flashing signal light apparatus, which is reliable and durable and of simple and compact construction, the operating cost of which is low, and which requires a minimum of attention; Circuit-controlling mechanism according to the invention may, obviously, however, be applied to other uses.

To these ends, the invention comprises an improved mechanism for controlling an electric circuit to obtain timed electric impulses for operating an electric lamp or other signal device or other device periodically. In accordance with the invention, means are provided whereby the momentum of a periodic oscillating member is caused to operate a circuit closing device to obtain with the consumption of an extremely small amount of power firm sure circuit closing contacts producing timed circuit impulses of definite short duration. The periodic oscillating member is most desirablya spring balance wheel the oscillations of which are maintained by a clock work train acting through an escapement lever, and the circuit closing device is a pressure-contact make-and-break device actuated by means of a spring lever arm extending into the path of move- 30 ment of an abutment on the balance wheel and engaged by the abutment and moved in the general direction of movement of the abutment as the balance wheel approaches the end of its movement in one direction. The invention includes other features and combinations hereinafter described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

A full understanding of the invention can best be given by a detailed description of a signal light apparatus embodying the circuit-controlling mechanism of the invention in an approved form, and such a description will now be given in connection with the accompanying drawings showing a portable flashing lantern provided with the improved circuit-controlling mechanism, and 'in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the flashing lantern, the circuit-controlling mechanism'being shown in end elevation looking from the left of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the circuit-controlling mechanism looking from the right of Fig. 1;

.Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the circuit-controlling mechanism taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken on the line 5 of Fig. 2.

Referring first more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the signal device proper in the apparatus shown is an incandescent electric light, 5

or lamp A, which is mounted at the central or focal point of a Fresnel lens B and which receives current through a circuit controlled by a circuitcontrolling mechanism C, the current being supplied from a dry cell battery D which is conven- 0 iently contained in a casing or container E on which the lens is mounted.

The circuit-controlling mechanism C is, in the apparatus shown, mounted within a closed container 20 removably mounted in the battery casing E. From the supporting frame of the circuitcontrolling mechanism, a post 2i extends upward through the top wall of the container and through an opening in the cover 22 of the battery casing. The post 2| has at its upper end a lamp 20 socket 23 for positioning the lamp A at, or approximately at, the focal point of the lens. When the battery cells and the container 20 are positioned within the battery casing E as shown in Fig. 1, a central insulated terminal 25 makes 25 contact with a contact button 26 carried by a spring-connecting strip 21 which extends from the positiveterminal 28 of the battery cell at one end of the series of series-connected cells, and the bottom wall of the container makes contact with a contact button 29 carried by a spring-connecting strip 30 which extends from the negative terminal of the cell at the other end ofthe series. Suitable switch means may be provided for opening and closing the battery circuit.

The circuit-controlling mechanism C comprises a periodic oscillating member and means for maintaining the oscillations of such member, the oscillating member in the construction shown being a spring balance wheel of a clock work 40 train, the oscillations of the balance wheel being maintained by a spring driven train acting through an escapement lever 4|. The lamp ch? cuit extends from the contact terminal 25 in the bottom of the container 20, by a wire 43 to a 45 bindingpost 44, and thence by a wire 45 to the bottom terminal 23 of the lamp socket 23. From the side of the lamp socket, a wire 46 makes con- "nection to a flxed contact 41 with which a movable contact 48 cooperates to open and close the 50 lamp circuit. The movable contact 48 is grounded to thewall of the casing 20 through which connection is made to the battery through the contact button 29.

The balance wheel 40 and the driving train I therefor are mounted in a frame comprising side plates and 5| and spacing posts 52, and the frame is secured to a bracket 53 which has one end secured to the bottom of the container 20 and extends upward to the top of the container and has a horizontal extension 54 which carries the lamp post 2|. The fixed contact 41 is secured to a fiat bar 55 of insulating. material, and the movable contact 48 is carried by a contact arm 56 which extends from a shaft or spindle 51 mounted in the side plates 50 and 5|. A spring 58 tends to move the contact arm 56 to carry the contact 48 away from the fixed contact 41 to open the lamp circuit. The end of the arm 56 extends through a notch or opening in the plate 55 the edge of which serves as an abutment to limit the circuit-opening movement of the arm.

An actuating arm 60 extends from the movable contact arm 56 or from the spindle 51 into the path of an abutment on the balance wheel 40, the arm 60 being positioned so that as the balance wheel approaches the end of its oscillation in one direction the abutment will strike and move the arm 60 to cause the movable contact 48 to move into engagement with the fixed contact 41. The escapement lever pin 6i conveniently serves as the arm-actuating abutment on the balance wheel. The actuating arm 68 is most desirably a spring arm, so as to avoid excessive jarring of the balance wheel and so as to give the desired period of closure of the lamp circuit. By varying the stiffness of the spring arm, the duration of the period of closure of the circuit may be varied as desired, the period being shorter as the spring is stifler. The lamp circuit will thus be closed and the lamp lighted intermittently at the end of each oscillation in one direction of the balance wheel 40. The timing of the succession of flashes will be determined by the period of the balance wheel.

This make-and-break device for controlling the lamp circuit has the advantage that the force under which the movable contact moves against the fixed contact is relatively large, while the power consumed in operating the movable contact is relatively very small, since the energy required to operate the arm 60 to move the contact 48 and hold it in engagement with the contact 41 is to a large extent returned to the balance wheel as the latter begins its return movement after having been stopped by the resistance of the arm 60. Furthermore, the device has the advantage that, even though the power of the driving train may through any possibility become so relatively weak as to result in the arc of swing of the balance wheel becoming shorter and the intervals between circuit closings and fiashings of the lamp becoming longer, yet the duration of contact and length of the resulting flashes are not varied by variation of the arc of swing, but remain constant.

The driving train of the circuit-controlling mechanism is driven by driving means to which energy is restored at intervals by automatically acting electromagnetic means which is, most desirably, supplied with current from the same battery which supplies the lamp. As shown in the drawings, the train is driven by a spring which is tensioned at intervals by the action of an electromagnet 66. The magnet 66 is mounted on the plate 5| and has an armature 61 pivoted on a pin 68 so as to extend adjacent to the pole 10 of the magnet and to be movable toward and away from the pole.

The driving spring 65 is formed from a piece of spring wire which is coiled about the pivot pin 68 and has its free end hooked under one of two short arms H extending from the free end of the armature 61. The other end of the wire, extending from the coil about the pivot pin 68, is secured so as to hold the spring under suitable tension. fiIhe spring will thus tend to move the armature away from the magnet pole, and when the armature is drawn toward the pole the tension of the spring is restored.

A spring arm 12, formed by a piece of spring wire coiled about a pin extending between the armature arms 1|, extends downward and has a bent-over end 13 which serves as a pawl to cooperate with a ratchet wheel 14 on the main driving arbor of the train. The other end of this wire beyond the coil engages beneath the end of the armature to hold the spring arm 12 under tension so that its bent-over end, or pawl, 13 is yieldingly held against the edge of the ratchet wheel 14. As the armature moves upward under tension of the driving spring 65, therefore, the pawl 13 will move upward and turn the ratchet wheel 14; and when the armature is attracted by the magnet to restore the energy of the driving spring, the pawl will be moved downward to engage a lower notch of the ratchet wheel.

The magnet circuit is controlled and closed at intervals by a make-and-break device actuated by the movement of the arrmature '61. This device comprises a fixed contact 15 carried by a rigid bracket 16 extending downward from a plate 11 of insulating material at the upper end of the magnet coil, and a movable contact 18 carried by a pivoted arm, or lever, 18, which extends upward from its pivotal connection to a bracket 88 secured to a plate 8| of insulating material at the lower end of the magnet coil. An actuating arm 85, extending downward from the pivoted end of the armature 61, extends into an opening 86 in 9. lug on the contact arm 19, the opening 86 being somewhat wider than the thickness of the arm 85 so as to provide for lost motion between the actuating arm 85 and the arm 19.

When the armature reaches a certain point in its upward movement under pull of the spring 65, the actuating arm 85 comes into engagement with the inner edge of the opening 86 in the lug on the contact arm 19; and on further upward movement of the armature the contact arm is moved inward until its contact 18 comes into engagement with the fixed contact 15, thereby closing the magnet circuit. The armature 61 is then drawn downward by the magnet and the actuating arm 85 swings outward. The actuating arm comes into engagement with the outer edge of the opening 86 in the lug on the contact arm 19 before the armature reaches the end of its downward movement, and continued outward movement of the actuating arm as the armature continues its downward movement then moves the contact arm outward to carry its contact 18 away from the fixed contact 15, thereby opening the magnet circuit to deenergize the magnet and release the armature so that the armature may again be moved gradually upward by the spring 55.

The contact arm 19 is extended upward above the contact 78 and has at its upper end a small plate, or armature, 81 which ,extends near one end of the magnet pole 10. When the magnet is energized by the closing of its circuit between the contacts 15 and 18, the armature 81 is pulled inward by the magnet and the contact 18 is thereby held tightly against the contact 15 and all possibility of imperfect contact is thus avoided.

One end of the magnet coil is connected to the binding post 44 from which connection is made through the wire 3, terminal 25, and terminal button 26 to one terminal of the battery. The other end of the magnet coil is connected to a binding screw 80 through which connection is made to the bracket 18 which carries the fixed contact, and the circuit is completed from the movable contact I! through the contact arm I9, bracket 80, binding post 90, andwire 9| to a plate 92' which is in electrical connection with the walls of the container 20, from which con nection is made back to the battery through the terminal button 29. r

The electrically energized driving mechanism shown and described herein is claimed per se in my Patent No. 1,878,076, issued September 20, 1932. Other features of the apparatus shown are claimed in application Serial No. 296.280, tiled July 30, 1928 now Patent No. 2,051,506 issued August 18,1936, of which this application is a division.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for intermittently closing an electric circuit, comprising the combination with a periodic oscillating member and driving means for supplying energy to maintain the oscillations of saidmember, of a circuit-closing device, and a member yieldingly operatively connected with said circuit-closing device and independent of said driving means extending substantially perpendicularly across the path'oi' movement of an abutment on said oscillating member in position to be struck by said abutment each time the oscillating member approaches the end of its movement in one direction and to be moved in the general direction of the movement of the abutment. whereby the momentum of the oscillating member is applied to said circuit-closing device to close the circuit and the major part of the energy stored in the member struck by the abutment is returned to the oscillating member on its reverse movement.

2. A device for intermittently closing an electric circuit, comprising the combination .with a periodic oscillating member, oi. a pressure-contact circuit-controlling device actuated by the oscillating member, said device comprising a fixed contact, a movable contact carried by a pivoted contact arm, means for yieldingly holding the arm in open-circuit position, and a resilient actuating arm for actuating the contact arm extending substantially perpendicularly across the path of an abutment on said oscillating member in position to be engaged by the abutment each time the oscillating member approaches the end of its oscillation in one direction and to be moved in the general direction of the movement of the abutment, whereby the momentum of the oscillating member is applied to move the movable contact forcibly into engagement with the fixed contact, the resilient arm being longer than the contact arm.

3. A device for intermittently closing an electric circuit, comprising in combination with a balance wheel and means including an escapement lever for maintaining the balance wheel in periodic oscillation, a pressure-contact makeand-break device comprising a pivoted contact arm and means for yieldingly holding said arm in open circuit position, and means for applying momentum of the balance wheel to operate said make-and-break device to close the circuit comprising a resilient actuating arm for moving the contact arm extending substantially perpendicu-- larly across the path of movement of an abutment on the balance wheel in position to be engaged by the abutment each time the balance wheel approaches the end of its movement in one direction and to be moved thereby in the general direction of the movement of the abutment, the resilient actuating arm being longer than the contact arm.

4. A device for intermittently closing an electric circuit, comprising in combination with a balance wheel and means including an escapement lever for maintaining the balance wheel in periodic oscillation, a pressure-contact makeand-break device, and means independent of the escapement lever for transferring energy from the balance wheel as it approaches the end of each swing in one direction to operate the makeand-break device to close the circuit and for returning the greater part of said energy to the balance wheel as it starts its swing in the other direction.

CHARLES F. WALLACE. 

